Warming up
by OutOfThisTown
Summary: Natsu and Lucy go against Gray and Erza in a snowball fight


It sounded like a bad idea the moment she heard it and yet, Lucy still got dragged into it anyway.

A snowball fight. A snowball fight against Gray and Erza.

Of course it could have been worse. At least she had Natsu on her team instead of against her. But still. Death had never seemed so close.

Leaving the battlefield was only allowed after receiving a critical 'critical' hit. Meaning a snowball to the head, stomach, back or chest. And while Lucy wanted to leave this game as soon as possible, getting a snowball launched at her face via Erza or Gray was not something she wanted to experience. Which meant she would have to try her best to stay in the game. _Great_.

Hit on the legs or arms meant you weren't allowed to use the injured 'injured' limb. That meant crawling or rolling after losing one's legs. Losing both arms would probably mean spitting the snow toward the opponents. Again, getting drool covered missiles spat at her face was not Lucy's idea of fun.

Use of magic was not allowed which at least made it a little easier to face off against an ice make -wizard and someone with an infinite amount of shields at her disposal. But Lucy was still sure that she would not escape this game without some impressive bruises.

"I could be reading, at home, where it's safe and warm," Lucy muttered as she looked on to where Virgo and Gray were using snow and ice to construct low walls and pillars to hide behind during their battle.

"Lighten up, Luce! This is gonna be so much fun." She looked to where Natsu was grinning like a maniac and rubbing his hands together in preparation of destroying their friends. Lucy felt a small smile tucking at her lips at the sight of her best friend's excitement. How someone could look that adorable while planning on ways to maim his friends, she didn't know. Maybe it was the earmuffs and gloves she'd forced him to wear?

All too soon, Erza was announcing the start of the game. The two teams headed off to the opposite sides of their battlefield and Virgo was quick to return to the spirit realm. It seemed that despite her love for pain, even this was too much for the spirit to handle.

Lucy sight with defeat as she found herself hiding behind a snow wall, watching as Natsu made a pile of snowballs. He was rolling them to be as hard as possible, claiming that it would make them fly faster. Lucy suspected that it had more to do with the damage inflicted on impact.

"Here, take these." Lucy was startled to find a pile of snowballs dumped in her lap by a very serious looking Natsu. "You go right. I'll take the left since that's where Gray is hiding."

Lucy grabbed a hold of the dragon slayer before he could sneak off. "Hold it. As soon as I leave this spot, I will be killed by a snowball. I'm not moving. You can deal with those two on your own."

"C'mon Lucy. This won't be fun if you're not in on it," Natsu whined as he did his best impression of puppy eyes.

"Not a chan- wait... were you trying to leave me to deal with Erza?" The celestial mage shot Natsu a horrified look.

He had the decency to look a little sheepish before answering. "Erza might go easy on you but she'll definitely end me. Besides, I wanna beat Popsicle using his own element." Natsu grinned proudly as he showed her a ball that was more ice than snow.

"This is Erza we're talking about. She won't risk losing by going easy on anyone," Lucy said, snatching the iceball from him and throwing it carelessly over her shoulder. No way was she allowing the murder of a friend.

A few seconds after the ball of ice had left her hand, a thud followed by a pained groan could be heard. Lucy froze in place as her heart sunk to her stomach. Natsu was the first to move and look over the wall.

"Ha! You nailed him in the shoulder, Lucy! Serves him right for trying to sneak up on us." Her gaze snapped up to a gleeful Natsu.

"I did?" Carefully Lucy followed Natsu in peeking over the wall. Her eyes immediately landing on Gray who was lying on the ground and holding his right shoulder. "I did! Look, Natsu, I landed a hit!"

Lucy couldn't keep the excitement from showing in her voice or the wide grin that formed on her face. A grin that dropped a moment later when Gray directed her with a seething look that promised vengeance. Eyes wide, Lucy did quick work of ducking back down.

"You're going to pay for this, Lucy!" Oh, dear Mavis. She really should have stayed home. If Gray didn't finish her, Juvia would when she heard Lucy was responsible for her beloved's injury.

"You wish, Ice-for-brains! Since Lucy got you with a half-assed throw, you ain't gonna survive it when we start putting in actual effort!" Lucy opened her mouth to tell the dragon slayer off from further provoking the enemy, but a new voice made her stop as pure terror started to run through her.

"Lucy did this? Well, I'm impressed. She was the first to throw as well as to land a hit. It seems I have underestimated how big of a threat our Lucy is." O_h damn oh damn ohdamnoh- _"Gray, change of plans. From this point forward, Lucy will be our number one priority!"

Erza sounded serious. _Very _serious.

Natsu dropped back down to sit next to her, face blank. For a moment, Lucy worried that he might be upset over no longer being considered the biggest threat in this battle. That worry was quickly replaced by dread as Natsu grinned at her.

"Looks like there won't be any hiding for you." He offered her a new snowball. "Here. I'll distract and you throw. This is gonna be so much fun!"

After one last defeated sigh, Lucy took the offered projectile and gave Natsu a determined nod. Might as well go down fighting.

...

Nearly an hour later, Lucy found herself enjoying the game. Sure, she was still terrified every time she moved from a safe spot, but it had become a thrilling sort of fear. After taking the first hit on her left arm and surviving the experience, it wasn't that bad. Hurt like hell, but wasn't _that_ bad.

Natsu had lost his left arm and right leg and was therefore dragging said leg behind him as he moved. Gray didn't have his arms in use, but had found a previously unknown talent of rolling snowballs with his bare feet and then kicking them with surprising accuracy. Lucy had only lost that one arm and had taken to turning that side toward any incoming snowballs, using it as a shield -a decision she would no doubt regret once she saw the bruises in the morning. Erza, of course, was still uninjured.

As Lucy dove down behind an ice pillar, she was pleased to discover Natsu grouching behind a wall next to her hiding spot.

Natsu's eyes lit up as he noticed her presence. "Lucy! Nice to see that you're still around. With all the screaming you did back there, I thought that Erza got you."

"Nah. She was close though. Saw my life flashing before my eyes and all that." She couldn't hide her bright smile.

"Well, you're just in time to see me give Ice princess a face full of snow. I know exactly where he's hiding and there is no avoiding what's coming to him." With an evil smirk and a tight grip on his snowball, Natsu turned around to peek over the wall.

Just then, Lucy saw a flash of red. Without thinking, she launched herself at Natsu, knocking him down from the side as something smacked hard against her back. The air was pushed from their lungs at the hard landing, both of them too shocked to move as Lucy lay on top of Natsu.

"The hell was-" Natsu's words were cut off at the sound of a pained moan from the girl on top of him.

"I don't think I'm going to make it," Lucy whimpered, only half joking.

"Wha-", mitten covered hand brushed through remnants of a snowball on the her back. "Shit. That's definitely a critical hit."

Lucy only groaned in response.

"You took an Erza throw for me," Natsu said in awe.

"Don't remind me. I'm going to feel it tomorrow." Lucy buried her cold face in the warmth of Natsu's neck, only now realizing how cold she'd gotten. Her arms were already trapped beneath him, his high body temperature doing wonders to her cold fingers.

"You sacrificed yourself for me." Lucy made a noise of protest as Natsu tucked her head away from it's hiding spot. She had given her life to save him, the least he could do was warm her. "I swear I'm gonna avenge you."

Lucy let out a little laugh as she returned her head to it's previous spot. "You'd better."

A small shiver worked it's way through her and Natsu was quick to wrap his arms around her. "You cold?"

"Mmhm."

"Here, let me just..." instantly, Lucy could feel the heat radiating off of Natsu grow stronger. She couldn't help the pleased sound that left her.

This was nice, she thought, lying in Natsu's warm arms and letting her tired and cold body rest. Why didn't they do this more often?

"Hey, dummy! Did you forget that magic isn't allowed? Don't even try to deny that you're using it, I can see the steam from melting snow!"

Natsu grumbled a curse at the sound of Grays voice and held her a little bit closer.

"Shaddap! Ya monsters killed Luce! Let me mourn in peace before I get back to kicking you're sorry asses!"

"What?! Erza got Lucy? Oh man, I wanted to be the one to do it!"

Lucy ignored the rest of the banter around her in favor of enjoying the warmth of her best friend for a little while longer.

...

Groaning, Lucy collapsed face-first into the softness of her bed as her bruised body gave up on her. Natsu seated himself on the floor next to her bed, chin resting on the mattress. His face was the definition of sulking.

"I don't care what Erza says, it was cheating. No way was anyone dodging that monster of a snowball. It was at least five times my size!"

"To be fair, we never did discuss what were the allowed snowball sizes." Lifting her head from the pillow, she gave him a small smile. "Besides, you got to take out Gray. Isn't that what's important?"

The memory brought back his bright grin. "Did you see his face? That dumb-ass really thought that he would get me. And next year we'll beat both of them." With a determined twinkle in his eyes, Natsu smacked his fist into palm.

Lucy winced at the thought. As much fun as she'd had, another round of this might just be testing her luck. As the saying goes: it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye...or limb...or life.

Natsu turned grim as he noticed her pained expression. "Your back still hurtin'?"

"Hm? Oh, that. Not so much. Only when I move. Or breath. Erza might have really been tying to kill us."

Without warning, Natsu slipped his hand under her shirt and the heat from his palm instantly eased the pain radiating from the sore spot on her back. A small shiver worked through her, as he started to knead the abused muscles.

"Don't tell me you're cold too." Natsu rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. "Honestly, Luce, how did you survive before meetin' me?" Before Lucy could protest, he had slipped in bed with her. One hand stayed firmly on her back and the other slipped under her head and around her shoulders, her nose pressed against his chest, as he held her close.

"You're one to talk. I don't think you're capable of feeding yourself since you're always raiding my fridge." Lucy snorted as she snuggled a little closer. She knew she should be kicking him out of her bed and yelling at him for how improper this was, but... she didn't want to. Natsu was so warm and comfortable, and he smelled like campfire and summer nights. Why was she always so quick to kick him out when he tried to sleep next to her?

"Hey! I'm only here to make sure you don't get yourself in trouble when you're unsupervised. Feeding me is a small price to pay for safety."

"Hah! Small is far from the amount of money I have to fork out to keep you fed. Besides, I'm not the one blowing up -" Lucy forgot what she was about to say as she looked up.

They were so close. Their noses nearly touching and Natsu's breaths falling against her lips. Were his eyes always this dark or was she imagining things?

Slowly, she felt his hand slipping away from her back in favor of brushing aside the hair that had fallen on her face, his thumb stroking against her cheek.

"Still cold?" Natsu asked in a low voice.

No. "A little," she whispered, afraid that any loud sound would break the feeling in the room.

"Want me to stay a little longer?"

Lucy bit her lip, knowing that she should refuse. "Yes, please." She didn't.

Natsu released a breath she hadn't known he was holding, before moving to press a gentle kiss between her brows.

"Sorry you got hurt, but thanks for today. I know you weren't all that excited about playing with us at the beginning." He nudged her nose with his as he brought their foreheads together, eyes locked to each other. Was it always this difficult to breath?

"Yeah, well..." her voice sounded far too breathy to her liking, and forming a sentence had never been so hard. "It's always more fun when we're together."

And, of course, Natsu just had to respond by giving her that grin of his that made her heart do odd things. For a moment, Lucy thought that he would kiss her. Or she him... But they didn't.

She wasn't ready for that quite yet. Lucy didn't think he was either. They were best friends -partners. She wasn't willing to risk what they had right now.

Slowly, she pulled away before burying her face against his chest. Natsu held her closer, before breaking the heavy feeling in the room by cracking a dumb joke in a true Natsu manner. The rest of the night was spent talking, joking and teasing each other, and Lucy fell asleep without ordering the dragon slayer out of her bed.

For his part, Natsu made a promise to himself, that by next year, not getting kicked out of Lucy's bed would be normal.


End file.
